


Take My Hand

by storm_dog_pirate



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Because I can, F/M, Lada is the best wingman okay, Role Swap AU, Tolya as well, guard!Nik, princess!Zoya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:01:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storm_dog_pirate/pseuds/storm_dog_pirate
Summary: With a little nudge from the younger princess, the Captain of the Guard and the Crown Princess have a stolen moment under the moon and stars.
Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Zoya Nazyalensky
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25
Collections: The Captain and the Princess





	Take My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> The role swap au nobody asked for.

If there was anything that made Nikolai anxious, it was looking for potential threats around the ballroom all the while keeping the princesses in sight. 

Though he knew that the crown princess was more than capable of protecting herself, it was better to be safe and keep up with her movements on the dance floor where she was. 

He definitely wasn't  _ looking _ at her, in a floor-length blue dress and her cascading raven hair flowing down her back, dancing with high ranking officials and dukes for quite a while now. She looked at ease, calm even, which was very far from her usual stoic and grumpy demeanor that she always seemed to have when she was with him. 

There was a weird twinge in his chest, making him frown. He knew he should never expect anything from Zoya—either friendship or just being acquaintances, it would be up to her to consider, aside from treating him as someone other than the Captain of the Guard. 

But all those late night encounters and talks had made a small part of him hope a bit more. 

The night went on with Nikolai taking turns keeping an eye on her and the much younger princess, who was actually easier to locate because of her yellow dress. Lada was all energetic and grins as she ran from table to table and greeted the guests. He had to fight off a chuckle as he watched the people’s expressions brighten up with her infectious smile. 

As happy as the young princess could be came the dwindling warmth from her older sister. He noticed that Zoya’s smiles had become more hollow and forced, and she had taken one too many glasses from the passing servants. He also knew that she could handle drinks well enough, but based on past experience, he would prefer the sober, sharp-tongued Zoya Nazyalensky a hundred times over. 

A narrowed look appeared on his face as he saw Zoya abruptly move away from her current dance partner, to which Nikolai recognized as Count Kirigin, and made her way towards the far end of the floor. Concern washed over him as he watched her disappear amidst the crowd. She rarely walked out on events—she always managed to endure it until it ended, and he was the one who would hear all the complaints and issues throughout the night.

He averted his eyes from her direction for a moment and turned to his left, where he saw Lada hogging something on the buffet table nearby, before looking back to the dance floor. Count Kirigin was still on the same spot as where Zoya left him, shoulders slumped in disappointment. Nikolai found himself furrowing his eyebrows further at the man. Had something happened?

“If you’re worried about her,” a voice said from somewhere behind him, and effectively startling him, “you should follow her.”

Nikolai whirled around to see Lada perched on the pillar, balancing her feet on the small space by its base. 

The young princess popped another sweet into her mouth and gave him a grin. “I’m sure Zoya would  _ like _ it.”

“What did we talk about having sweets at this time of the night?” He raised an eyebrow as a gesture to the little girl’s hand, which carried several more candies. “If I go and follow her, I will have to tell her about that, little princess.”

Lada shook her head, a confident expression on her face. “No, you wouldn’t. You’d be too busy staring at her to remember,” she said, and Nikolai huffed a laugh at that. She was smarter than he had always thought her to be. “Besides, you adore me. And you’ll adore me even more when I say she’s in the balcony.”

He opened his mouth to protest about wanting to go after her sister, but he found that Lada would be able to see right through him anyway. Instead, he sighed and turned back to observing the ball room. “I’m quite sure she wants to be alone.”

“I’m quite sure she wouldn’t mind your company.”

“You put too much confidence in her.”

“For a captain, you really are blind,” Lada said, making Nikolai turn back to the child. For someone who was only turning ten in a few months, she sometimes sounded more of an adult than he would’ve expected. “She’s been stealing glances at you all night.”

Nikolai wanted to laugh, but held it back. That’s too good to be true. “No, she hasn’t,” he replied. He was sure of it. He had eyes on her all night. Or had he just missed it?

Lada shrugged, patting him gently on one shoulder. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you,” she said, a bit sadly, before she jumped off the pillar and skipped away before he could say something more. 

A long moment passed and the ball continued without much of a complication. He hadn’t seen Zoya on the dance floor or anywhere again, and by that time, Nikolai was already considering following her out.

But his previous conversation with the younger princess was the one that made him hesitate. Even if it’s true, there was no way that Zoya would be in a good mood around someone based on her demeanor the last time he saw her. 

“Nikolai.”

Nikolai jolted slightly at the sound of another voice beside him. “Saints,” he said as he turned to the person, seeing Tolya’s towering form and the confused expression on his face. “People should really stop startling me.”

Tolya laughed lightly. “Unlikely of you to be startled easily, Captain. Something bothering you?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Or  _ someone _ , perhaps?”

“Dear me, why is everyone assuming I’m thinking of someone?”

“Aren’t you?”

“ _ No, _ ” Nikolai denied instantly, which made Tolya give him a knowing look. He shook his head and pulled at his collar in slight annoyance. Being in uniform for the whole day had become too stiff for his liking. “Is there something you have to tell me?”

Realization dawned on his companion’s face, and Tolya hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “Lada is looking for you,” he said.

Nikolai frowned. “But she was just here earlier.”

“I don’t know, she seemed preoccupied with something and can’t leave their table,” Tolya said. He waved a hand when Nikolai opened his mouth to reply. “Don’t worry, I got your place covered. Go tend to the little one. She’s really keen on finding you.”

The table was at the center of the ballroom, just below the dais, and Nikolai couldn’t really see the royal family that much from his current place. Though it’s not new for Lada to come request for his presence at certain times, he had no idea what the younger princess wanted to show him now.

Nikolai sighed. “Alright.”

He made his way towards the table, mumbling excuses to the people he passed by in the ballroom, some making way for him when they saw him approaching. He was nearing the table, when he heard Lada’s voice somewhere to his right.

“Nicky!”

He turned to see Lada pushing her way through the crowd and running up to him. A confused look bloomed on his face. “Lada, what—”

Lada seized his hand and started pulling him towards the opposite direction, her demeanor all too excited and beaming. Nikolai figured that it was from the sugar rush she got from the sweets earlier. Zoya was most likely going to kill him when she knew about this.

“Finally, you moved from your post,” Lada said. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

Nikolai frowned, but still let the younger princess drag him to wherever she planned to bring him, earning several pointed looks from people they happen to bump on due to Lada’s enthusiasm of leading him.

“Excuse me, Captain of the Guard coming through!” She was waving her hand forward as if to divide the crowd.

A few moments later, they were breaking out of the ballroom through one of the side exits, and they set foot on the balcony. The chatter and music from the area was now faint, with the night breeze overtaking the sound coming from the ballroom. 

“Lada—”

Almost too immediately, Lada let go of his hand and stepped back, holding a finger up with a frown on her face. She had the same expression for another moment before realization came to her face. “Oh, wait. I forgot something,” she said, already turning back to the ballroom again. “I’ll be back in a bit!”

Nikolai reached out a hand as if to stop the girl, confusion overwhelming his mind, but the princess had already disappeared back inside. What was—

“Lada?”

A voice came behind him, and he froze. It took him two seconds to put it all together, making him close his eyes in embarrassment. He should’ve known better. And considering that Tolya was also behind this without Nikolai noticing only added to become more mortified of himself.

He let out a sigh before turning around to face the person behind him. Maybe it was his distress over the ploy that Lada was able to pull him in, or maybe he just never had accustomed himself to her splendor and beauty, because even as he’d been keeping an eye on her all night, Nikolai still found himself sucking in a breath when he looked at her.

Zoya’s eyebrows furrowed as she regarded him a bit stiffly. The dim light outside only made her eyes glow brighter and Nikolai couldn’t help staring. “Captain,” she greeted. She was holding an empty glass in her hand, and he wondered how many she had drunk tonight. “Was that Lada?”

Nikolai blinked and shook himself, returning his usual cool demeanor. “Apparently, yes. She told me she wanted to show me something so here I am,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “What brought you here to sulk, princess? 

He expected her to deflect the subject or dismiss him, but she scoffed instead, waving a frustrated hand in the air. “Oh, you know, too many people and too many small talks,” she replied with a huff. She stomped grumpily over to the parapet. “I’d rather jump off this balcony than dance or talk with another person again.”

“But you’re talking to me,” Nikolai mused, slowly walking towards the parapet as well. Zoya gave him an incredulous look, and it made him laugh lightly. “Well, if you ever decide to jump off, just know that I’d be morally obliged to jump after you.”

The crown princess mocked a sweet smile. “How chivalrous of you, Captain.”

“I do my best, Princess.” He winked at her, to which she only replied with scoff. 

A comfortable silence stretched over them, and Nikolai smiled contentedly. It was during quiet times like these that he would let his mind stray dangerously close to the invisible line between them that neither of them acknowledged aloud, or just refused to, and he would find himself hoping again. 

He glanced at Zoya at the corner of his eyes, careful not to be too obvious. There was a look of ease on her face, the kind that one would rarely see from the crown princess who was well known for her regal and stoic expressions during public appearances. Ravka’s Storm, the people would call her, both thunder and lightning, powerful and fierce. 

It was fitting for her, all rough edges and sharp tongue, never to hurt and only to tell nothing else but the truth.

Beautiful. It was the one word that he could think of every time his eyes landed on her.

_ Beautiful. _

Zoya must have felt his stare at her, because she suddenly turned to him with a frown, and it was too late for Nikolai to avert his eyes. She raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s the matter, Captain?”

His mind tried to come up for excuses, but came up empty. Instead, he voiced out his thoughts. “You just look at ease tonight.”

She laughed darkly. “Trust me, I feel exactly the opposite inside.” She paused, looking down at her hands. After a moment, she said, “Count Kirigin had asked permission to court me earlier.”

The statement had Nikolai floored, and there was the unexpected sting in his chest again. But he knew better than to welcome it, so he brushed it away. He didn’t know what else to say about it, and he settled with his usual joking jabs instead. “Is that why you’re sulking out here?”

To his relief, Zoya huffed. “Oh, shut up with the sulking.” She shook her head, and then sighed. “I—I didn’t know what came to me and just walked out. I don’t think I was ready for that yet.”

Nikolai could only look at her with concern as she continued, “I know it’s bound to happen, those kinds of proposals. But I just don’t want to be tied down yet.”

“Hey,” he said softly, reaching out a hand to clasp hers. Even through his glove, her skin was warm against his touch. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Take all the time you need.”

“Easier said than done, Captain,” she said with a huff, but she squeezed his hand back. “It’s actually a surprise you’re not infuriating tonight.”

He laughed. “Are you still considering jumping off the balcony?”

“I’d rather not now.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Zoya gave him a narrowed look. “But, you know, maybe we should dance instead.”

Nikolai’s thoughts stopped altogether. Out of all of the possible things she could’ve said, this was last on the list. Saints, it wasn’t even  _ on _ the list. He stared at her, mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed. The Captain of the Guard was left speechless. Did he hear it right?

He blinked repeatedly, running the words on his mind again. “Wha—I’m sorry, come again?”

There was a faint redness on her cheeks, but her eyes didn’t waver from his stare. Nikolai chalked it up to the cold. Or probably the several drinks she had. “Dance, Captain,” she said. 

“Here?”

“Why not? The music could still be heard out here.” Then Zoya gave him a smug look. “Don’t tell me the Captain doesn’t know how to dance.”

This somehow saved Nikolai from the nth embarrassment he had tonight, and he challenged her look. “Ah, underestimating the Captain again, Princess?” He didn’t even notice that their hands were still clasped until he held out his other hand out to her. “Well, then. May I?”

Zoya only smirked and took his hand, leading him to the center of the balcony. Her arms came up around his neck, while his settled around her waist, and slowly, they began swaying along the soft, faint music that wafted out on the balcony. 

It was a tender moment for them, not as a Captain or Princess, but as Nikolai and Zoya, under the moonlight, with nothing but the skies and stars as witnesses.

Though it wasn’t actually just the skies and stars. Behind the pillar of the exit that supported the archway hid two figures, peeking out in the balcony with a smile on their faces. 

“I told you it would work,” Lada said. She was perched on Tolya’s right shoulder, munching on another set of sweets. “You people should trust me more when it comes to scheming.”

Tolya inclined his head up to look at the little princess. “Remind me to include you in planning battle strategies next time?” he said with a light laugh.

Lada only grinned in return, the both of them looking back to the couple in the balcony that were still in each other’s arms before leaving quietly and letting them have their moment.

It was another win for the younger princess tonight. 


End file.
